


beguile us in the way you know

by TolkienGirl



Series: Swan Songs - Emma Swan Character Studies [5]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Episode Tag, Episode: s01e08 Desperate Souls, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Gen, Self-Doubt, Title from Robert Frost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26819155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TolkienGirl/pseuds/TolkienGirl
Summary: It’s all a muddle in this tiny town. New York and Boston, as it turns out, have nothing on the complexity of a few rows of houses; a dense, lush forest; the sound of the sea.He makes a superlative enemy, said Regina, grinning like a cat.
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Emma Swan, Henry Mills & Emma Swan, Huntsman | Sheriff Graham/Emma Swan, Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold & Emma Swan, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard & Emma Swan
Series: Swan Songs - Emma Swan Character Studies [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1178060
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	beguile us in the way you know

Her adult life has been spent catching men who play games, and her lonely childhood and fraught adolescence saw her falling, often, to game-pieces. What all this means, now, is that she should have a _read_ on Gold. Her edges are dull—that’s the maddening part.

He shouldn’t be so many steps ahead.

She presses her knuckles against her mouth, hating him. Hating that he knows about Graham’s jacket. Hating that she hadn’t thought of Graham, today, until she believed herself alone. Graham and Gold, Regina and Henry.

The way that hope and hurt seem painted in dashes along the quiet streets.

It’s all a muddle in this tiny town. New York and Boston, as it turns out, have nothing on the complexity of a few rows of houses; a dense, lush forest; the sound of the sea.

 _He makes a superlative enemy_ , said Regina, grinning like a cat.

And still: that moment was the closest they’d had to being two women—knowing, together, what a man’s anger could do.

Emma goes back to Mary Margaret’s. She showers until the steam blurs her eyes. She sleeps on the daybed with her feet against the vined metal footboard. She rests her arm against her eyes, pressing deep against their sockets.

What is grief, if not knowledge of missed opportunities?

How is Henry seeing her mugshot—seeing the miserable circumstances of his birth—not the worst thing that’s happened this week?

And why, when they told her she won, did she let herself feel so…

 _Happy_?

 _You belong here_ , whispers the son she never thought she’d see again.

 _You belong here_ , Mary Margaret telegraphs with her bright, hope-painted eyes.

Even pain can make you belong; can forge memory. Emma doesn’t know what she wants, but she knows what she’s chosen—

Or perhaps, more accurately, what’s chosen _her_.

She has a long winding dream that is no more than a road, at first. Then it’s a grove of red trees, their roots invisible because she’s flying through them. She’s afraid what the forest will show her. She wakes up before she finds out.

“Toaster still works,” Mary Margaret says, upbeat. “Just needed a gentle touch.”

“Glad you could provide one,” Emma says. There’s cinnamon toast this morning, and a bowl of strawberries that blushes almost unbelievably red.

“Takes all kinds.” Mary Margaret’s voice is too sincere, now, to be talking only of kitchen appliances.

“Too early,” Emma tells her dryly, reaching for a coffee-mug. “Although, not too early for me hurry my ass up and get to work.”

“You have a lot of responsibility now,” Mary Margaret agrees gravely. “Crime stops with you.”

Emma permits herself a smile.

The sheriff’s office is empty. Mr. Gold isn’t lurking in the shadows. Graham isn’t smiling behind his desk. Emma wraps both hands around the back of her neck, elbows pointed out defensively.

She breathes like she’s just resurfaced, like the sea and the forest and the rows of houses have all come crashing into one. 


End file.
